After reading a recent thread about an 1838 specimen that turned out to be fake I decided to take another look at one of my examples - an 1833 coin.
I would appreciate what others have to say regarding authenticity and attribution.
I'm far from expert but the surfaces just look odd to me. I'll show pictures of both sides and then make some comments on authenticity and attribution with more close up pictures. If I need better pictures or other pictures let me know.
Although not photographed the lettered edge of the coin looks reasonable with the words FIFTY CENTS OR HALF A DOLLAR (the OR didn't come out well) with interleaved sequences of vertical lines.
I looked over Davignon's online reference on fakes for the Capped Bust halves (1833 in particular) and didn't see a match which gives me some hope. I also looked at maibockaddict.com for attribution. To me it seems like O-107 is a good candidate. I'm including closeups of some of the features.
On the obverse: A blunt 1 has been punched over a long serifed 1, the right base of same slants down toward bottom of 8.
On the reverse: The alignment of I in Pluribus and the T in States seems consistent with O-107. The I is hard to see. Hopefully the picture is adequate. [Edit: Another feature I noticed is the top serif on the last S in States. It looks exactly like the example reverse used for O-107 on the maibockaddict web site. Although other reverses have the serif it's stretches further toward the rim for O-107.]
Heavy center dot between crossbars 3 and 4 also seems consistent. The horizontal lines seem a bit wavy to me in spots which is concerning but I could convince myself that wear is playing a role in what I see. O-107 also mentions "any lines, especially of stripes 2 and 3, extend below shield". I think maybe but am not sure.
O-107 also says "50 C. is 1 1/2 mm. and high." and "top of 5 usually weak." Not sure if the 50C is high.
Posted Today 4H 26M ago
